


The After Effect

by guineamania



Series: Hurt Comfort Bingo [8]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Low Blood Sugar, M/M, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-11 03:23:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5612116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guineamania/pseuds/guineamania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe tried to forget about his first encounter with the First Order but the after effects are still living with him fifteen years later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The After Effect

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: Low Blood Sugar

Poe learnt about the First Order’s cruelty first hand when he was only a trainee pilot. A training flight above Yavin was high jacked by First Order TIE fighters and Poe crashed in the wilderness. It wasn't long before the Stormtroopers found him and he was taken hostage. Interrogation wasn't too intense, he had been trained to withstand worse but the torture continued long after the First Order officer left. Poe knew no one was coming for him; Leia had always favorited him but there was no way the General would risk the mission to come and rescue some low level pilot. Even if that pilot was her surrogate son, the Resistance came before any man.  
  
First they froze him, the temperature plummeted and even his trusty jacket wasn't enough to keep him warm. Poe guessed they were trying to turn him but they didn't know him. To them he was just a young rebel, not the man that had been forced to watch Ben Solo’s decent into madness. He would rather die than turn to the side that had corrupted his friend in such a way. And he really did think he was going to die. The temperatures remained that way with only brief respites to keep him alive however much Poe hated it. Next came the starvation and this was what almost killed him. No food was ever given to him only water. Slowly he began to feel weaker, sleeping for longer periods of time and spending the time he was awake in a fugue state. Then the shivering intensified, he knew he was been shivering from the cold but it increased in strength as he grew to new levels of hunger. Weight melted off him and now even when they tried to feed him, Poe’s stomach didn't have the strength to keep any food down. It had been five weeks since his capture and no one in the First Order wanted to expend much effort on keeping the Resistance pilot alive. So one night he faded into unconsciousness and was left in his cell, fading away.  
  
Leia knew the logical answer was that Poe was dead. However she refused to give in; she kept on telling people that she would do this for any of the Resistance operatives but her motives were far more selfish. Carter Dameron was one of Leia’s most trusted confidants who died suddenly from a heart defect leaving his wife Malia heavily pregnant. Malia was a New Republic pilot under Leia and even after the birth of her son she refused to stop flying. Leia regretted her actions sending Malia into battle everyday. When Poe was two, his mother died in action. With encouragement from Luke, Leia and Han took in the Young Dameron boy as the First Order rose, threatening all they had built. Two years later, Ben Solo was born and Poe was smitten with his little brother. They were more than brothers, they were best friends. When Ben fell, Leia lost everything but Poe stayed by her side as he fought his way up the ranks. Leia couldn't lose him too. Poe Dameron was all the family she had left. “Ma’am there’s a ship leaving planet side. Our sources say it is a prisoner transfer to be sent to programming,” a soldier explained. Even if it wasn't Poe, they had a responsibility to rescue that poor soul being sent to be trained as a Stormtrooper.  
“Send in Blue Squadron. This is not a drill,” Leia ordered, now all she could do was put her faith in her pilots.  
  
Leia was waiting in the hanger when Blue One landed. The squadron leader had reported that it was Poe but he was in bad shape. Leia wouldn't have believed them laying eyes on Poe’s limp, shrunken body. But at least he was alive.  
  
XXX  
  
Poe sat in his room with Rey draped across his lap and Finn curled up next to him. He knew he should be happy but his skin was crawling painfully and he just couldn't focus on the holo they were watching. When the shakes started Poe didn't notice, he just draped a blanket over the three of them. Yawns shook his body only an hour into the film; he had been tired but he had been sure he could make it through. “We can go to sleep if you are tired,” Finn smiled softly.  
“I’m not tired,” Poe snapped back, he wanted to watch this. Was Finn bored was that why he was asking? He could have just said if he was.  
  
Finn was worried about Poe. All day he had been edgy and especially that evening there had been something off about him. Rey had retired to bed as she had more training with Luke in the morning but Finn didn't want to leave Poe alone in this state. About ten minutes before the end of the film, Poe feel asleep on Finn’s shoulder but he wasn't sleeping easily at all. Finn tried to shake him awake but nothing was working. His heart was beating erratically and shakes shook his whole body. Finn did the only thing he could think off. He called for help.  
  
Poe was wheeled into the medical bay with Leia being called. The general arrived at the same time as Poe and Finn did but she didn't seem shocked. She pulled a needle case out of Poe’s bag that the medics had brought and hurriedly injected Poe in the crook of his elbow. It was viably noticeable as the drug had it’s effect and Poe’s sleep became a lot more peaceful. “Finn, I need to talk to you,” the general ordered as Finn just stood there looking bemused. “Poe hates it when I tell people this but he is getting more lax with looking after himself,” Leia explained before diving into the tale of Poe’s capture and torture.  
“This severe malnutrition caused a condition called Hypoglycaemia. It means Poe’s body doesn't have high enough blood sugar. If he doesn't eat well, regularly it means he can go into a state like one you saw today. There is no cure but with an injection we can bring him back from the brink. He hates people to see this weakness but I need to know he is cared for,” Leia explained and Finn nodded.  
“I’ll take care of him. He’ll be okay,” Finn stated, bringing a tense smile to Leia’s face. It would be hard to get Poe to accept his help but Finn swore he would keep Poe safe, even if it was from his own body.


End file.
